When you hear old-timers talk about the death of the mid-range game in the NBA, know that’s not all bad. Don’t get me wrong, there is still value in a guy who can knock down a high percentage of midrange shots, but the fact is team’s that get their shots at the rim and from three are likely to be more efficient. Get your buckets right at the rim or get the extra point for that long jumper if you can.

The Knicks can — with their seven threes against Bulls Thursday the Knicks set a record for most threes made in a season.

Of those, 209 are corner threes on which they shot 38 percent, the other 636 came above the break and the Knicks shot 38 percent on those as well. (Yes, on the season the Knicks are shooting 37.6 percent on threes, but that includes 28 backcourt heaves that drags the percentage down). It’s interesting to note the Knicks do not shoot a higher percentage on the corner threes, most teams do. Also, 97 percent of the Knicks corner threes are assisted, 79 percent of their ones above the break — they tend to work inside out, or kick out in transition for these shots to get good looks.

By the way, the Knicks lead the league in three-point attempts, makes and are fifth in percentage.

It works. The Knicks have a top three offense. If their defense shows up they are a dangerous playoff team.

if I had a dollar for each time I heard the (highly inaccurate, for those who actually watch Knicks games), “You don’t get FTs if all you do is shoot jump shots and 3s”, I’d be paid more than everyone on the Knicks combined.

How then, do you explain how JR gets whacked 5-6 times a game on drives, without a call, and Melo gets smacked around in the lane like he’s Shaq (without Shaq calls) a good 8-10 times per game? People act like the Knicks just stand around and shoot 3’s all game, when in reality, they only account for about 1/3 of their shot attempts.

Oh, and Melo has the best mid-range game (a la his idol, B. King), in the NBA.

I laugh at people who say the Knickerbockers only shoot jumpers, they base their
theory on espn analyst like Jon Barry and TNT C. Barkley.
I accept them playing however they can win a game, I just want to be healthy.

They don’t only shoot jumpers, but they do shoot a lot of them, and they tend to win when the jumpers fall, and lose when they don’t.

That’s why I don’t trust them in the playoffs. In those grind-them-out defensive battles, do you trust this mercurial Knicks team to make those clutch plays? Sure they can blow pretty much any team (Miami, OKC, SA) out when they’re hitting their 3s. But they don’t fall every game.

They were swept by Chicago this season for that exact reason. Chicago is the model grind-it-out team, and the Knicks struggle when playing against them if their long jumpers aren’t falling.

Except those Lakers, coached by Pat Riley I might add, played some defense and had several hall of famers. The Knicks don’t have Riley and I don’t think they have any hall of famers either. You can google and bing that if you would like to

Exactly. Thank you. One person here has a memory that exceeds the time to smoke a fat one.They fast break only when the smart play calls for it and spend a great deal in halfcourt running pick and rolls or super screen sets to get open 3 looks. Class dismissed.

cantonbound13 - Apr 12, 2013 at 5:51 PM

It’s not just because they have 2 guys that were on the Mavs team. That’s a lazy, stupid response. You’re smarter than that. Look at the rosters of the Mavs 2 years ago & compare it to the Knicks. Small forward: Shawn Marion/Iman Shumpert, both slashers & 3 point shooters who’s main role is to be the teams’ best perimeter defender.
Power Forward: Dirk/Melo both had MVP caliber seasons, lethal scorers.
Center: Tyson Chandler, he as actually improved defensively since coming to NY. Hence the defensive player of the year award last season.
Shooting Guards: Jason Terry/JR Smith: both streaky shooters, can carry a team when they are on. Smith Definately a better defender & more athletic.
Point guards: Kidd@ Barea/ Felton&Kidd& Prigioni. Knicks have much more depth there & they have the least turnovers in the NBA because of their 3 guards.
They purposely built this team very similarly to the Mavs team that beat your Heat 2 years ago. If Amare, Martin & Wallace come back they will be much, much deeper than that Mavs team.

Riley failed in NY. Jeff Van Gundy took them much farther than Riley. As I remember Van Gundy beat Riley constantly in the 90s, except when David Stern decided to suspend Patrick Ewing & Alan Houston in that series in 97. I’d also take Phil Jackson any day over Riley. That was another coach that always beat Riley. Riley was only successful when he coached 2 or more hall of famers on his roster. You could have coached those Laker teams to a championship.

The previous record holder was the Magic a few seasons ago. As a Magic fan I say that you do NOT want a team that relies so heavily on threes. It’s great when you’re hot, but its rare for a team to stay hot for more than a series or two in the playoffs. It kills you when the team goes cold from three. The Knicks should just focus on attacking the basket consistently if they want to win anything, Carmelo is among the best at that when he’s motivated and aggressive. An open look from three is a great thing, but if they start taking contested shots from three in the playoffs they will lose.

I’m sick of the Knicks jacking up threes. when they are open go for it which a lot of them are but sometimes they just shoot way to many jumpers. when the ball movement is great and melo/smith/shump/felton are driving to the hoop with kick back threes they are at their best. sometimes they forget about this and just settle for jumpers and its painful. they have average defense but it seems to show up when it has to. wish it was around all the time.